Blackburn with
Darwen
The Next Five Years
Andrew Lightfoot – Deputy Chief Executive
Blackburn with Darwen Council
A growing population…
Pakistani
Indian
White
• population set to grow by 3% by 2021
• biggest growth in the 65+ age group (+17%)
A diverse population . . .
We’re facing some
big challenges
But we’re aiming
high
Creating more jobs and supporting business
Our economies
The private sector:
• 20% employed in manufacturing; 20% distribution and hotels / restaurants;
15% IT and financial services;
• Self employment increased over last 3 month period
• Lancashire LEP
• Pennine Lancashire EDC
• 2nd highest borough with ‘Gazelle’ growth companies in the North West
The public sector:
• Large public sector (32%) with NHS hospital, Unitary Council and FE
institutions
The third sector:
… Over to you … tell your story… employment / volunteering / skills?
Creating more jobs and supporting business
Our challenges
• Employment rate at 61% - below regional and national
average
• Unemployment levels increasing
• (Net) fewer businesses
• More redundancies
• Pay levels relative decline - Lower earnings (£417pw) than
national average (£508pw)
• Below average skills levels:
– Degree level qualification 22% compared to 33% nationally
– 18% of residents have no qualifications compared to 12% nationally
Creating more jobs and supporting business
Our achievements
• £70m investment in Blackburn’s retail core - Mall and new
indoor market
• Record levels of footfall during the 2011-12 festive period National Indoor Market of the Year 2012.
• More than £1.2m of investment in improved public realm in
the heart of the town centre
• Highest number of small high growth businesses
Creating more jobs and supporting business
The next five years……
Cathedral Quarter Phase 1,
60 bed hotel; 80,000sq ft
office building; Clergy Court
(residential New public
realm). Onsite commences
2013 , completion mid 2015.
£30 million investment
Freckleton Street - Strategic
employment site earmarked
for investment . New link
road opens up land for mixed
use development. Masterplan
developed. Awaiting planning
.
Pennine Reach
Major investment in public
transport infrastructure. New
bus station - On site 2013
Complete 2016
£6 million investment
.
European Programme 2014-2020
With a BwD growth strategy underpinned by a business led, major european funding
programme in concert with Pennine and Lancashire partnerships
Improving housing quality & building more houses
Our economies
The private sector:
• 64% houses owner occupied
• 14% houses private rented, doubled since 2001
The public sector:
• 18% houses are social housing
• 25 known registered social landlords
The third sector:
• Nightsafe – supported housing for 16-24 year olds (emergency, medium
& long term stays)
• THOMAS – supported housing and rehabilitation programme for
substance misusers
Improving housing quality & building more houses
Our challenges
• Average house prices in Blackburn with Darwen are 42% lower
than the North West average, although the trend is consistent
with national figures
• In the year to July 2013 average house prices fell by 4.0%
• In 2012 mortgage repossessions were 50% higher than national
rates
• Estimated 27,000 properties (over 50%) are non decent and
12,300 with a category 1 hazard
• Amongst worst authority areas for fuel poverty – 24% of all
households and more than 30% of households in some
neighbourhoods
Improving housing quality & building more houses
Our achievements
• £100m of HMR and Council funds during 2001 – 2012. Delivered a
range of projects which included:
– Over 2,000 homes refurbished and improved
– 1,100 unfit & obsolete homes cleared
– 700 properties benefited from safety initiatives/environmental
improvements
– Over 1,000 new including affordable homes delivered which
include homes for rent or shared ownership
• Regeneration programme attracted around £200m of additional
investment from Public/Private sector. Which has contributed to a
wide number of initiatives
Improving housing quality & building more houses
The next five years……
• Only 10% of the housing
stock has 4 or more
bedrooms compared to a
national average of 34%
• Only 13% of properties are in
Council Tax Band D or
above, compared to 21%
across the North West
• Higher value aspirational and
‘executive’ housing
developments will be
prioritised
• Planning for 600 new homes
each year
Improving health and wellbeing
Our economies
The public sector: In 2011/12 we spent £350million on Health and Social Care
in the Borough
– £15.6m on Health prevention and promotion
4.4%
– £70m on primary care 20%
– £141m on secondary care
40%
– £10m on urgent and emergency care
3.1%
– £111m on community health and social care
32%
• Of 60,523 working people aged 16-74, 15% or 8,936 work in Health and
Social Care
• Services are commissioned by Council and CCG along with NHS England
• Major providers Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, East Lancashire
Hospitals NHS Trust and the Council
Private and third sector providers play a vital role
Improving health and wellbeing
Our challenges
• Increasing numbers of older and very old residents
• Life expectancy 3 years shorter than nationally and the gap is
widening
• Half of all adults have one or more long term conditions
• Significant increase in alcohol related admissions – trebled over
last ten years
• Death rate for chronic liver disease has risen and faster than the
region or national rate
• Smoking rates are high with strong social inequalities
• Projected increase in dementia
Improving health and wellbeing
Our achievements
• Year on year increase in life expectancy and decrease in premature
deaths
• Refresh - introduced first comprehensive free leisure facilities
programme for residents to promote physical activity
• Continuing strong partnership between local government and
health - first with Care Trust Plus and now with the CCG- with
nationally significant track-record around integrated
commissioning and joint management arrangements
• Pioneer for Health and Wellbeing Board - nationally respected
• Barbara Castle Way Health Centre - secured £21 million
investment in new multi-service health facility in town centre
creating 250 new jobs and improving access to services.
Improving health and wellbeing
The next five years……
Health and Wellbeing Strategy Vision - to increase life expectancy in Blackburn with
Darwen, and reduce the gap between Blackburn with Darwen and the national average.
Improving outcomes for young people
Our economies
The private sector:
• 44 private/independent nurseries and pre-schools
• 1 primary academy and 1 primary free school (from Sept 13)
• 2% primary aged children in academies
• 2 secondary academies and 1 free school
• 22% secondary aged children in academies; 2.5% in free schools
The public sector:
• 14 children’s centres, 4 Council nursery schools
• 14,000+ primary aged children; 9000 secondary & 6,000 16+ learners
• 54 primary schools and 7 secondary schools maintained by LA
• 2 colleges and 4 6th form colleges
The third sector:
• 15 voluntary/community/faith nurseries and pre-schools
Improving outcomes for young people
Our challenges
• Increasing school autonomy, flexibility and accountability for
children with SEND
• Increasing delegation of funding to schools and Council Budget
reductions means a changing role for local authorities
• Increasing range of service providers
• Continued impact of poverty on the children entering schools 3 in 10 children (more than 4 in 10 in some wards) live in
poverty
• Performance at higher levels of achievement not as strong as at
threshold levels
Improving outcomes for young people
Our achievements
• Educational attainment continues to improve and we continue to
narrow the gap to national averages – a consistent trend over the
past decade. Gap to the national average has narrowed
• Primary from 7% to 2%
• Secondary from 12% to 1%
• Over 80% of children in schools deemed ‘good or better’ by Ofsted
• Nearly 90% of young people staying in full time education at 16+ (1%
above national average)
• 58% of our young people have a level 3 qualification (8% higher than
similar authorities and 3% higher than national average)
Improving outcomes for young people
The next five years……
Our ambitions are to have:
• Our children and young people attending schools judged good or
better by Ofsted (ideally most to be outstanding!)
• Primary and Secondary school performance above national average
• Two thirds of local young people entering Higher Education (60%
currently) – to maintain the borough’s competitive advantage
• More of our children attending the top universities (Russell Group)
(6% currently)
Safeguarding the most vulnerable people
Our economies
The private sector:
• 24 older people residential and nursing care homes run by
companies/organisations
The public sector:
• 356 children in local authority care; 150 subject to child
protection plans and 678 identified as children in need
• 4 older people residential and nursing care homes run by the
Council
The third sector:
• Over 130 active foster carer households
Safeguarding the most vulnerable people
Our challenges
• Over 370 investigations for adult safeguarding in 2012/13
• Teenagers are more likely to be frequent consumers of alcohol
• Estimated 2,940 residents have a learning disability and of those
930 are 0-25years old (likely to increase 15% in next 10 years)
• Approximately 350 children, young people and young adults aged
0-25 will have been diagnosed with complex needs or disability
(2013)
Safeguarding the most vulnerable people
Our achievements
• OfSTED - Good children’s services; Good for all aspects of fostering
service
• Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) established April 2012 more robust approach to identifying vulnerable adults/children
• Good and improving recognition of children’s Voice in relation to
service design and delivery
Safeguarding the most vulnerable people
The next five years……
• Integrating health services and social care teams at a local area
level, to drive improved outcomes and resource efficiencies
• Joint assessment and care planning for children and young people
with complex needs, to be rolled out April 2014
• Delivering our Early Help strategy through neighbourhood level
early intervention services
• Working with our partners in the police to prevent offending and
re-offending
Making your money go further
Our economies
The private sector:
• £51,346,021.03 (or 35%) spent with businesses and services in
BwD in 2012/13
The public sector:
• £147m Total spend in 2012/13
The third sector:
• £4,835,875 (or 3%) spent with the third sector in 2011/12
Making your money go further
Our challenges
• Local government finance review – Spending Review 2013
projected further challenges in 2015-16
• Demand management around social care
• Partner cuts and the aggregate effects on the borough and
residents
• Inter-dependency between local economy and local public
sector (both employment and spend)
Making your money go further
Our achievements
• Many years of keeping Council tax low
• Have achieved our cuts to date
• Protected key services that residents have told us they wanted
to keep
• Innovative partnering arrangements – previous Care Trust Plus;
Pennine Lancashire Building Control service; shared
neighbourhood teams
Making your money go further
The next five years……
• Integrated delivery (building on integration track record) across
sectors
• Continuing to review our assets and make best use of them
• New and innovative partnerships – business network; explore
further Pennine Lancashire working
• More tough decisions on Council role / service coverage and
quality
Voluntary and Community Sector
• A tremendous asset to the borough – under-utilised,
recognised and ‘exploited’.
• Critical to the maintenance (short-term) and improvement
(long-term) of residents’ quality of life.
• Central to new models of commissioning and delivery – ‘keep
calm and carry on no longer an option’
• Progressive in leading the way with consortia models.
• Regionally and nationally significant in its own right –
opportunities to collaborate with private and public agencies
for the advancement of BwD
Voluntary and Community Sector
In the spirit of honesty, however, the external view is…
• Governance has been introspective and fragmented – at both
organisation board and sector level.
• Reputation and advocacy has suffered as a result.
• Fighting the wrong battles – ‘representation’ and sector
balance is no longer on the agenda – focus on impact, delivery
and areas of niche sector advantage.
• The business model appears to be ‘revving in neutral’ – where
are the new income streams, private sector (CSR) partnerships
• Is there genuinely a preparedness to innovate and take risks
(e.g. new contractual arrangements / PBR?)
Voluntary and Community Sector
So, in conclusion…
• Your organisations are vital to the future of the borough.
• You are pushing at an open door around new, innovative
partnership, commissioning and delivery arrangements.
But it requires…
• Clear, coherent, confidence sector leadership and a focus on
your ‘core offer’ .
• An end to fragmented and confused governance.
• A willingness to quickly and genuinely move beyond existing
constraints, behaviours and ‘norms’.